Ask a guitarist what electric they’d choose if they could only have one guitar to cover all gigs and there’s a fair chance that they’ll say ‘Telecaster’. It’s ironic that the simplest of Leo Fender’s solidbody electrics has also proven to be the most adaptable. Though if we trace its evolution back a little further to the Broadcaster and Esquire that preceded it, we discover that it became simple by design – because in some ways the earliest prototype guitars were more complex than the classic Tele we know today.
The Tele began life as an entirely new kind of guitar, built for the working musician of the jet-age. But as the 50s progressed, it embedded itself in the musical life of America and the Telecaster became something more meaningful – it was the kind of guitar that went places and got heard at country fairs and city bars alike, a clear-voiced presence in the collective memory of a generation. Thus Telecasters became truly a guitar of the working musician. And when those musicians passed on, their families often kept their guitars and, with time, those instruments and the stories behind them proved to be more remarkable than anyone had guessed.
Regular readers will already be familiar with the treasure-house of guitar heritage that is Well Strung Guitars of Farmingdale, New York (covered recently in our Holy Grails feature in issue 489). Now, as we celebrate the musical legacy of the Telecaster, we return there to examine four guitars and the human stories – and occasional unsolved mystery – behind the most enduring electric of all. Our guide is veteran guitar trader David Davidson, who recounts how Tele history is also our history – the story of music-makers, innovators and six-string dreams made real…
FENDER ‘LAMP SWITCH’ ESQUIRE PROTOTYPE c.1949
Sometimes the least obtrusive guitars hold the richest history. And, at first glance, it might only be an odd detail or two that tips off their importance to the casual observer. Such is the case with a Black Esquire that resides at Well Strung Guitars, which features an unusual pickup-selector switch borrowed from a desk lamp. The fact it lacks what we would recognise today as a ‘proper’ three-way switch is a telltale that this is a very early prototype of the Esquire, which appeared in the earliest Fender brochure promoting Leo Fender’s revolutionary new solidbody design. David Davidson picks up the story.
“I was very fortunate to get
